The 2022-23 Los Angeles Clippers’ Season Preview

September 22^nd, 2022

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will look to get the Los Angeles Clippers to become legitimate title contenders for the upcoming NBA season, and they could surprise teams if they stay healthy all year long.
(Photo: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press, via Los Angeles Times)

Last year, the Clippers were hamstrung by the fact that Kawhi Leonard was unable to play due to a knee injury, so they were without their best player for the whole season. Paul George was injured for most of the season, but came back in the second half, albeit he was a little rusty and didn’t play up to his normal superstar self, save for a few strong performances late in the regular season.

The Clippers struggled all season long, but they managed to reach the play-in tournament. Somewhat surprisingly, they lost to the Clippers in their first game with Paul George, and then George missed the next game due to being out due to health and safety protocols. As a result, the Clippers blew a big lead and lost to the upstart New Orleans Pelicans led by Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum, and rookie head coach Willie Green.

The Clippers will look to recover by getting a fully healthy Kawhi Leonard and Paul George this time around, but they’ll have to manage a difficult balancing act of load managing to keep them healthy and to stave off other teams to make it to the playoffs in 2023. The hot and cold Clippers were able to get to the Western Conference Finals in 2021 as they had defeated the Utah Jazz in the second round without Kawhi, but they have never reached the NBA Finals. They’re hoping that will change for the better with a fully healthy Kawhi and Paul George, as neither have been fully healthy together for a full postseason with Tyronn Lue as the head coach.

Star Players:

F Kawhi Leonard and F Paul George

Kawhi Leonard is a tremendously skilled forward that does everything well when healthy, and he is a future Hall of Famer that has won NBA championships both with the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors. He’s been very injury prone in the past five NBA seasons, and he’s played just 178 regular season games in that time span. He’s a great player when he’s on the court, but the Clippers will need him to be fully healthy come playoff time.

Paul George is a very athletic, skilled forward whose versatility and strong all-around play makes him a very good player on the court when healthy. While he didn’t quite shoot as well last year, he thrived as a playmaker and defender, and he’s been able to take over games more when healthy for the Clippers. Like Kawhi, they’ll need to keep George healthy for the playoffs to ensure any hope of title contention.

Additions:

G John Wall

He is a speedy, but oft-injured scoring point guard that sat out last year after the Houston Rockets told him that they wanted him to sit out the season in a bid to play their younger players more. Wall hasn’t been at the superstar level that he was at years ago, but he can still thrive as a playmaker and defender when healthy, and can provide some scoring skills, so he could help the Clippers in a reduced role this season.

Subtractions:

C Isaiah Hartenstein and F Rodney Hood

The Clippers lost two backups on their team, but the player that they’ll miss the most is their former backup center Isaiah Hartenstein, who thrived as a per-minute big man off the bench.

Rookies:

G Jason Preston and F-C Moussa Diabaté

Preston missed all of last season due to a foot injury, but he is a tall, skilled point guard that can shoot and pass the basketball. He’s only an average athlete and isn’t particularly explosive, but his offensive skills and basketball IQ could allow him to be a reliable, game-managing point guard for the Clippers off the bench.

Diabate is a very athletic, energetic big man that will make hustle plays, but he’s struggled to be consistent in games, and he is a project player that will likely spend most of the season shuttling back and forth between the NBA and the G-League this year.

Expected Rotation: